CATCH A RISING CZAR:

Everybody -- including the president -- wanted a piece of Marat Safin.
'Please, wait for me. I will talk with you, like I promised,' Marat Safin, the new U.S. Open champion, told a reporter as Safin was being hustled between three interview rooms in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Before gangs of international TV crews and print journalists, Safin recounted his dramatic victory over Pete Sampras in the final in all three of the languages that he speaks (Russian, Spanish, and English, in descending order of proficiency).

Safin was then whisked away to Louis Armstrong Stadium to pose for official USTA photos, stopping along the way to sign autographs and have a picture taken with the Tennis CenterпїЅs night cleanup crew. Finally, four hours after the final, he hit the locker room for a few one-on-ones. First up, a phone call from President Clinton. But before he could speak to the leader of the free world, Safin had a prior obligation to fulfill: an ITF drug test. Talk about your pressure to perform! And Safin was flunking.

'WhatпїЅs the matter,' asked one reporter on the scene, 'canпїЅt squeeze out something for the President?'

After that mission was finally accomplished, the 20-year-old Russian was ready to take ClintonпїЅs call. 'I look forward to visiting you at your White House,' he said. In an era when menпїЅs tennis is often criticized for a shortage of engaging personalities, Marat Safin isnпїЅt your run- of-the-mill Grand Slam champion. And itпїЅs not just his cover-of-People good looks that set him apart from the ATP pack. Rather, itпїЅs his refreshing candor and wonderfully self-effacing sense of humor, made all the more endearing by his sometimes problematic English syntax. HeпїЅs easily the most colorful European player since Goran Ivanisevic, that malapropian philosopher from Split, Croatia. Safin, himself a fan of Ivanisevic, doesnпїЅt dispute the comparison: 'I think Goran was like this from the beginning. He didnпїЅt just become crazy when he was on ATP. The same like me, yes? I was like this already.'

Safin was also sharp enough not to miss a beat when a reporter asked him a question from out of left field: 'So, Marat, who would you want to be your partner if you were on the Survivor show?'

'For sure, Macaulay Culkin.' 'Huh? OK. The Home Alone kid. Why?'
'He showed he could get out of danger at such a young age. HeпїЅs older now and must be a much more clever guy to help me survive.' He shot the questioner a grin that said, 'Is good answer, no?'

Safin has a tendency to discount his considerable appeal. When asked about the ATPпїЅs New Balls, Please marketing campaign, which is intended to make stars of Safin and other young players, he said, 'ItпїЅs very nice, but [fans] want to see Pete, they want to see Agassi.'

To support the hypothesis that heпїЅs a 'nobody,' he explained that at least one official at the U.S. Open seemed completely unaware of his existence.

'They didnпїЅt even know me in, how you say, transportation desk. I say, пїЅPlease, can I have a car to come to the stadium?пїЅ '

'What's your name?'

'Safin.'

'Can you spell it, please?'

'Next time, I will go with sign,' he says, pointing to his forehead: IпїЅM MARAT SAFIN. So people can remember me.'


-- Warren Florence


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